


Ascension

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [30]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 22:12:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4539297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf





	Ascension

_Skinner: “Go home, Agent Mulder. You’ve been up all night. Get some sleep.”_   
_Mulder: “Sir, I know Duane Barry, I’ve been in his head. I know how he thinks…”_   
_Skinner: “You’re too close to this case! If we can use you, we will.”_   
_Mulder: “Sir…”_   
_Skinner: “That’s an order, Agent Mulder. Make sure he gets home safely.”_   
_Krycek: “Come on.”_

“You can just drop me here.”

They were two blocks away from Mulder’s apartment building, stopped at a light in front of a strip mall. Mulder moved to get out of the car, but Krycek reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Uh, Skinner said to take you home. What are you doing?”

“I’m just gonna get something to eat. I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

“Mulder…”

“Look, I haven’t eaten, and I don’t have anything in my apartment, and it’s not like I’m gonna get lost between here and there. I’m a big boy, Krycek, I’ll get myself home.”

“Well, I can stop with you while you pick up some food and take you the rest of the way home after.”

“No, I need you back at the office. You hear anything --  _anything_  -- about Duane Barry or Scully, you call me immediately. If Skinner’s gonna try to shut me out of the loop on this, you’ll have to be my eyes and ears.”

Without waiting for a response, Mulder got out of the car and shut the door, cutting off whatever protest Krycek may have been about to make. True to his word, he crossed the strip mall parking lot and walked into a sandwich shop, where he grabbed some lunch to-go. Instead of heading home, though, he walked around to the other side of the block and hailed a cab.

“Takoma Park, please.”

He had the taxi driver drop him off a block away from the  _Lone Gunmen_  office (the boys were a little touchy about that sort of thing) and walked the rest of the way. Byers looked surprised when he answered Mulder’s knock.

“Mulder. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“I need your help. Scully’s been taken.”

“What?!” Frohike jumped up from the desk where he was tinkering with whatever gadget he was upgrading today. “What do you mean, taken?”

“She was kidnapped from her home at about 10pm last night by a man who may or may not be an alien abductee. He’s former FBI, but he got shot in the head in ‘82 and has been suffering from delusion and violent outbursts ever since. However, there’s some evidence that his claims of alien abduction are actually valid, and not merely another one of his delusions. Now, I need you guys to keep a sweep on the police radio frequencies for any mention of a Duane Barry. He may be taking her to a mountain somewhere, though I have no idea which one. I just…”

“Slow down,” Byers said, crossing the room and picking up a notepad. “You said his name is Duane Barry?”

Mulder nodded. “I’ve got his history, I don’t need background, I just need to figure out where he’s going. Skinner’s trying to sideline me on this, but I can’t just sit around on my hands. I have to find her.”

“If that bastard hurts Scully, I’ll kill him myself,” Frohike said, his jaw tight.

“Somehow I think Mulder’s gonna want the first crack at him,” Langly piped up from the back of the room. “You don’t have anything more specific than ‘a mountain somewhere?’”

“Unfortunately not. He said he couldn’t remember where it was, only that he’d know it when he got there.”

“We can do a web search on abduction statistics, see if we can cross-reference by location and narrow down to all the ones related to mountains,” Langly offered. “Might not help much, but it’s probably better than nothing.”

“That’d be good, yeah. Thanks guys.” Mulder looked around the cluttered room, then pointed at a chair that was mostly buried under back-issues of  _TLG_. “You boys mind if I hang out here for a little while? I got kicked out of the office, but I really don’t feel like going home.”

“Take all the time you need,” Byers said.


End file.
